The heavy door creaked open (cue several of the first years around Susi to jump), revealing a tall, black haired witch wearing emerald green robes and a tall pointed hat, with her half moon spectacles perched upon the bridge of her nose. She oozed power from every pore, yet there was a definite likable quality about the stern lady stood before them.

"Ah, Hagrid, at last," she smiled at the large man, "I see you have delivered the first years. This way please!"

She strode ahead, leading the gaggle of nervous eleven year olds through a vast entrance hall, past a grand marble staircase and into a small chamber off a room, which Susi presumed to be the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts. In a moment, you will all be sorted into your houses, which will determine which table you dine at, where you sleep and with whom you will be working towards the goal of House Cup at the end of the year by earning House Points for your respective houses. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each with it's own history and traditions. Triumph will earn you house points, and rule breaking will result in House Points being lost. I expect each and every one of you to be a credit to your chosen houses," she eyeballed them all sternly, making sure every word sunk in, "now, if you would all follow me this way, the Sorting will begin."

The Professor swung the door open and lead the first years through the great hall, which had fallen deathly silent as the first years processed past the tables and to the front of the hall, where a battered looking, slightly wilted, pointed hat sat upon a small three legged stool.

To the great surprise of the first years, the brim of the hat opened to reveal a mouth, which began to bellow out a tune. None of which sunk into the head of Susi, she was far to busy taking in the spectacular great hall. The ceiling was beautiful, bewitched to reflect the night sky outside, with hundreds of thousands of candles floating above the heads of students at four long tables, with approximately sixty students at each. At the front of the hall, on a raised plinth, stood what Susi presumed to be the staff table. A very old looking wizard with long silver hair and a beard smiled at her, a twinkle in his eye behind his half moon glasses. His chair was much grander than the rest. This must be the famous Dumbledore, Susi thought. She had heard great things about this man. She felt honoured to be in his presence.

In her daydreaming, Susi had not noticed that the Sorting Hat had finished it's song, and that several of her first year colleagues had in fact been sorted into their respective houses, and that everyone stood close to her had turned to stare at her,

"Susi! It's your turn!" Remus hissed under his breath, nudging her towards the Hat.

"For the last time, Hartwin-Magia, Susanna Cara! It's your turn!" called Professor McGonagall irritably.

Susi blushed a deep crimson, before hurrying forwards and plonking herself down onto the stool, ramming the battered hat over her head.

"Buona Sera! Another Hartwin-Magia. Well, well, well, where to put you. You have brains, just like your sister- but oh! What do I see here! A heart of pure gold, just like your dear Papa's. Well, in that case, it's got to be-" a little voice echoed all around her head, before bellowing out loud "GRYFFINDOR!"

Whoops and cheers came from the Gryffindor table, Susi beamed and made her way over, her Papa would be so proud of her- she couldn't' wait to write him an owl. To her delight, as she approached the table she realised that her train companion, Lily had also been sorted into the Gryffindor house.

"Well done Susi! I thought you we're never going to get sorted then, you looked away with the fairies!" Lily hugged her as she took a seat next to her.

It seemed as though all the first years had grouped around the top of the table, a boy she recognised from the entrance hall sat opposite them. He was rather handsome, or he would be in a few years, with floppy black hair and fathomless grey eyes that were sparkling with mischief.

"I'm Sirius Black," he held out a hand across the table for Susi to shake, she smiled and extended her own, only to have him lift her hand to his lips and plant a soft kiss on her knuckles, "You Italian girls need to be treated with a bit of class, right?" he smirked cheekily.

Lily's jaw dropped and Susi narrowed her eyes at the boy, snatching her hand away.

"I think... I think that you seriously over estimate your charm, Black," she retorted, accent thickening due to her acute embarrassment.

The boy sniggered; clearly pleased with the way he had managed to get under her skin. Beside her Lily tutted, glaring at the audacity of the young boy. Willing the blush away from her cheeks, Susi lowered her eyes and her gaze fell on the empty plate in front of her. She was dimly aware of the headmaster launching into a speech; yet she was only roused from her daydream when the huge serving plates in front of her began to fill will mountains upon mountains of deliciously rich food.

"Wow, this most certainly is a feast!" Came Remus' awed voice from beside her. She hadn't noticed him take a seat there.

Smiling, she followed the lead of her fellows and dug in to the glorious food, though she didn't recognise some things, like the curious little puddings with crust edges and a sunken doughy middle (Yorkshire puddings, Lily informed her).

By the end of the feast, it was safe to assume that every single person in that room was fit to burst thanks to the Hogwarts House Elves down in the kitchens.

"First years, if you would follow your house prefects to your common rooms!" Heads of houses called down the long house tables.

Susi noted which of the fifth, sixth and seventh years had badges attached to their robes baring the shiny letter 'P' and hurried along after them, gazing awestruck at the magnificent height of the ceiling in the entrance hall and the grandeur of the marble staircase, of which she skipped up behind Lily, coming to an abrupt stop when Lily began to sink into the staircase,

"Watch out for the trick step!" one of the prefects leading the way called out lazily.

Remus and Susi hauled Lily out of the step, taking care to miss the step as they proceeded. Finally, the procession of Gryffindor first years reached the seventh floor, and came to an abrupt halt in front of a portrait of a rather portly looking woman in a lurid pink satin dress.

"Mackled Malaclaw," the rather bored looking sixth year boy drawled, causing the portrait to swing open, revealing a hole that the prefect then began waving the first years through, "that's the password, forget it and it's your own fault. This is the common room, 1st through 3rd years don't leave the common room after eight o'clock, nine for years 4 through 7. Boys dormitories are up that staircase, first door for first years and so on, same goes for the girls, up that staircase over there," the boy pointed to the staircases, "check the notice board every now and again. As you can see, this is the common room, fireplace and so on. Don't do anything stupid. Boys and girls' bathrooms are through that door and down the stairs. Questions? No, good. Scram," the boy waved away the rather bewildered looking first years, who all seemed to be gravitating towards the dormitories, eager to explore their bed rooms for the year.

Susi glanced down and noticed that Lily had slipped her hand into Susi's, a thought that calmed Susi instantly, at least there was someone else who was as nervous as herself. They climbed the spiral staircase and followed three other girls into the dormitory. The room was circular, with five beds (each with a trunk at the foot, obviously belonging to each of the girls), five bedside tables, one large wardrobe (presumably for all of the girls to share) with a large ornate mirror laid into the door and a grand fireplace opposite the door, which was crackling away, giving the room a homely glow.

"Susi, you're bed's next to mine!" Lily called, smiling as she flopped down onto one of the four-poster beds, fiddling with the curtains and rolling around, assessing the comfort. Susi mirrored her actions, bouncing a little as she sat down, letting her head fall back and crash into the soft, feather pillows. She rolled onto her side and surveyed the room; there were three other girls in the room, with whom neither Lily nor Susi had spoken to yet. Susi was reluctant to speak first; she was beginning to feel very self-conscious of her Latin accent, which was very obvious against Lily's typically English cadence.

"Please tell me that someone else is as overwhelmed as I am by all of this?" Lily broke the silence,

"Oh Merlin, I am!"

"Yes!"

"Me too!"

Susi smiled, at least hey were all on an equal footing as far a nerves were concerned.

"Did you two meet on the train?" a girl with shoulder length, wavy brunette hair a heavy spattering of freckles and a thick Irish accent gestured towards Lily and Susi,

"Yeah, did you three?" Susi spoke up now, conscious that she had not yet spoken,

"Aye, well, me and Milly did, met Flo at the feast," she gestured to the two other girls as she mentioned them, "I'm Fiona, by the way, Fiona O'Cailin,"

"I'm Lily Evans," Lily waved,

"Melissa Abbott," smiled a soft looking girl, with a round, pink face who wore her blonde hair in plaited pig tails, "Milly,"

"Susanna- Susi," Susi nodded to the girls,

"Florence Smith," a rather plain and timid looking girl with mousy brown hair and watery blue eyes managed to crack a half smile,

"Well, that's us all well and truly introduced!" Fiona smiled.

To Susi, Fiona felt like an apparent leader to Melissa and Florence; she seemed rather nice though, bubbly with a wicked sense of humour- she had the girls in stitches until lights out. Melissa seemed very nice also, not as bright as Fiona or Lily, but she seemed loyal and kind. Florence was the quietest of the five. She seemed very much overwhelmed by Hogwarts, more so than even Lily, which Susi found strange as Florence had announced that she was a half blood during a rather awkward-for-Susi conversation about blood status. Needless to say, Susi had glossed over her family's prestigious bloodline and had moved the conversation onto something tamer. All of the girls- Lily included- were deeply interested in Susi's Italian schooling, having had no prior knowledge of how to perform magic themselves,

"You're going to be so much better than the rest of us!" Lily groaned, throwing a pillow at her newfound friend,

"I wont!" Susi held up her hands, caught the pillow and threw it back, "honestly, I'd never even held a wand before I bought mine over the summer,"

The girls gossiped, chatted and laughed until the lamps flicked off and the fire began to die.

"Night girlies!" Fiona called, drawing the curtains around her bed,

"Night!"

"Goodnight!"

"Buona notte!"

"Night!"